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  Strutting down a spiral stone staircase leading from a roof top sun terrace was Isabella, with a glare that could burn through ice. She sauntered down in a long, floaty and almost see through summer dress. It danced in the warm breeze as if in harmony with her dark hair.

  “Father, you summoned me like one of your staff…” Isabella kissed the air around her father’s cheeks as she scornfully leant in.

  “Come, come don’t be like that. You cannot blame a father for worrying and loving you too much!” Pérez’s face lit up at the sight of his daughter, a large grin matching his wide-open arms asking for a hug. One Isabella walked into, then turned her back spitefully so as her father ended up hugging her from behind instead. He kissed her shoulder and Knox rolled his eyes unnoticed, or so he thought until Isabella cut him a look.

  “Isabella, my love, don’t be like that… this is…” Pérez was interrupted.

  “The cutthroat brute my fiancé and you hired behind my back father?” Isabella snapped.

  “Isabella, hermosa. I didn't have anything to do with Mr Knox's appointment. But after everything that has happened, I am so glad that Malcolm hired him. Isabella, you owe Mr Knox gratitude, if it wasn’t for his action, Heaven knows what may have happened to you.” Pérez said his voice turned sterner towards the end.

  “If you’ve come here to look after me, Mr Knox, thank you, but no thank you. My father has bodyguards, my fiancé has thugs and I don’t need any more testosterone around me...” Isabella sneered as she started to walk away. Both Knox and Pérez follow her.

  “The killers out there don’t care about your father’s bodyguards let alone your fiancé’s thugs. They don’t care about you or what they do to you, they just want his wealth and most of all to hurt and break your father. And right now, you are making it easy for them.” Knox cut back at the princess.

  “That’s every man within a 1000-mile radius. Including you, work for free, do you? That’s why you’re here… You think I can’t do it. You think I’m going to screw up. Or get myself killed… I am tougher than all of you think.” Isabella almost stomped her foot as she folded her arms starting to walk a little faster.

  Knox took hold of her arm, pulled her back and around to face him. Her look of shock and horror turned to disgust, with how dare he, as her eyes burnt into Knox.

  “I think running around here like a spoilt brat makes you think you’re more than you are. Mean people like me, take one look at you and see an easy target.” Knox gripped harder, shook her a little and started walking pushing her backwards. Isabella without thinking walked back in compliance.

  “I think you think your money, your father’s money, can buy your way out of any situation. I think your mouth and manner is more likely to get you into trouble than out of it. Men, strong like me will do far worse than grab your arm and push you around and make you walk backwards Miss Pérez!” Knox let go, she took a few more steps back, she turned to her father with an aggrieved expectant look. Pérez nodded and looked away.

  “You are wrong… You don't know me, in fact, that will be your biggest mistake” She telegraphed a big swing to slap Knox’s face. A slap that Knox caught without a blink. They locked eyes like in the mirror that evening at the beach. But this time her eyes were filled with hate and fury.

  “My mother was pushed around and her people, but I won’t be. Get your hands off me. Some say this family, the blood in my veins is cursed. Living up here in the hills in this Eden, with all this wealth you think you would be free. But no, just like my mother I am being pushed around like a prisoner in a golden cell.” Isabella said dramatically and her father looked in pain by the verbal slap in the face.

  “Isabella? Is everything alright?” A voice carried over from behind Knox. Everyone turned to see a slender man in a suit, no tie walking over.

  “Darling, I see you have met your saviour. A real hero some may say. I think you can forgive me, he may be my best and most important secret I have ever kept from you.” The man slipped his arm around Isabella, pulling her into him for a kiss. A kiss that looked forced with just as forced a smile afterwards.

  “Lucas Knox, my son in law Malcolm Howard.” Pérez placed his hand on Malcolm’s shoulder as Malcolm held out his hand to Knox. Knox shook it as he sized him up. Isabella looked at her father with a scowl.

  “We are not married yet father. Now if you don’t mind I am tired. I am going to go lay down.” She said pulling away from her fiancé who took hold of her hand to hold her back a moment.

  “I will come check on you in a few minutes, I just need…” Isabella cut him off.

  “Yes, yes fine whatever you want.” Isabella frowned as she slipped away.

  Pérez returned to the table, followed by Howard and Knox.

  “Well Lucas, shall we negotiate?” Pérez passed him a cigarette, as Howard helped himself.

  “Yes, let’s get this wrapped up as I am sure you are eager to get started, isn’t that right old sport," Howard said to Knox with an English private school boy accent. One Knox had heard many times before from officers born to the right parents.

  “What I was hired to do was watch over a woman, keep my distance and step in if need… If… I was needed too. Minimal risk job.” Knox said as he sat back in his seat.

  “I think we can all agree things have escalated well passed minimal risk. She is a target and by the looks of it, someone’s main target. My question to you is where do you want to take this and are you and her ready for the level of what is now needed?” Knox finished by lighting his cigarette.

  Pérez looked over to Howard, Pérez gave a signal and Howard stood up and walked away.

  “Mr Knox, you have our full attention. Malcolm did extensive research and referencing into your background, past work and skill set. We have already seen for ourselves you are the man for the job. But tell me, do you want the job?” Pérez stared at Knox and Howard returned to the table with a tan leather briefcase.

  “I have only two conditions," Knox replied.

  “And they are?” Pérez asked coolly.

  “I answer to one person and one person only, it keeps things clear and simple.” Pérez nodded and then asked.

  “And the second?”

  “All matters of security and safety, I call the shots, it's my way or I walk," Knox said with a tone that brought no argument. Both Pérez and Howard spoke at the same time.

  “Agreed.”

  “Now the only thing left is investment. Malcolm open the case.” Pérez nodded to it, directing his future son in-law. Howard placed the case in front of Knox, rolled the combi-lock to the correct combination 0812 to the left 2016 the right. A crisp double clip sounded and the latches popped open. Howard lifted the lid. Knox’s eyes lowered into the case, then lifted back up to meet Pérez and Howards.

  “One point five million euros Lucas, it’s yours if you take the job. And a very handsome wage each month.” Knox had to work hard to keep this cool, calm, collected look in place when Pérez asked,

  “So, is that enough investment to keep my daughter safe…?”

  Chapter Six

  Deposit & Brief

  Outside the Banco de España building in Malaga hours later, Knox found himself walking through black iron gates before making his way up the wide stone steps leading up to its tall double doors. The grand facade of the building, six imposing sixty-foot stone columns made the building stand out along the Paseo del Parquet. Knox stood in the lobby and made a call from his phone.

  “Well, hello stranger,” Dani said and the second he heard her cheerful voice he felt a strange weight being lifted from the heavy rich bitch burden that was Isabella. He even found himself taking a moment to drink in the sound of her voice before readying himself for the barrage of words that Dani usually fired at him.

  “I got your text. It was a little tricky with the time you gave me, but I worked my magic as usual and got it done. So, handsome, are you impressed?” Dani asked in her usual
flirty and upbeat manner.

  “Thanks for that Dani, life saver as always. I really didn’t want this kind of cash hanging around. But…” Knox was quickly cut off.

  “But…? I don’t like it when you say ‘but’, Lucas. You’re not going to break my heart now, are you?” Dani held her breath and Knox hated himself for the way he enjoyed the idea of her worrying about him.

  “Dani…” He dragged out the sound of her name in a comforting way before telling her.

  “You worry too much, Lass. As if I would break your heart.”

  “No?” she asked questioning him and Knox imagined her with her hand at the delicious curvature of her hip before it met the perfect handful of an arse he just wanted to bite into. He smirked knowing his answer and inwardly calling himself a bastard for enjoying their sexual banter, one he knew could never lead to the bedroom like he wanted.

  “Well sweetheart, you would have to give it to me first.” Knox smiled when he heard a small sigh being released, one she no doubt tried to hide. He could almost see her biting her lip and onto the end of a blue pen that he knew she did often out of habit. He couldn’t believe it was possible to envy an inanimate object like he did that day he first met her. But seeing the way her lips subconsciously sucked and nipped at its plastic end… well shit, he had been having dreams about them paying the same attention to his cock almost every night since. Even thinking about it was getting him hard and this was his cue to reel back to reality and get down to the reason he called.

  “No, it’s about work. Oh, and you can breathe now, I wouldn’t want you going lightheaded on me again,” Knox said unable to help himself with one last tease.

  “Again…? In your dreams, Mr Knox. Anyway, work is what I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. You had an offer come in and…” said Dani but was quickly interrupted.

  “Would it happen to be for a British government department by any chance?” Knox asked.

  “Er… yes, how did…" Dani said with an inquisitive tone as Knox jumped in again.

  “The one where they have made a few offers but you turned them down?” Knox’s smile grew as he waited for Dani’s response.

  “Okay, so… Have you been spying on my computer, are you watching me now?” Dani half laughed with a touch of confusion and was that also hope he heard underlining her voice?

  “Well now, that would be telling. The funny thing is I have accepted the job offer from them. I started… well this morning in fact,” Knox said as he braced for a backlash.

  “Hold on… but… how… what? I am really confused here Lucas, so time to fill me in.” Okay, so if Knox found himself getting hard before, hearing her say this was causing him to have to readjust himself.

  “Did they go to you direct and cut me out? Bastards! They can’t do that, we have rules and I am going to…” Dani said as her confusion turned to outrage. Knox cut in quickly, smirking at the feisty side he hadn't seen from her before.

  “Hold on, I can’t get past ‘fill you in’…” Knox chuckled.

  “Lucas!” she scolded but it didn’t work in removing the grin from his face, nor the idea of her squealing his name like that as he hoisted her over his shoulder and slapped her arse.

  “It’s not what you think, Darlin’. Something I was working on down here meant I crossed paths with that particular department and they pulled me in. We had a chat and well, I kind of took the job.” Knox knew this wouldn’t go down well.

  “You bloody did what?! Guess that’s me out of a job then, oh well, I always have my painting to fall back on,” Dani said with a put on sad voice. Knox rolled his eyes knowing he would never be able to let her go and if she thought he would, then she was a damn fool. Even if he wasn't prepared to risk taking their friendship to the level he wanted, he knew he wasn't able to walk out of her life for good. But instead of saying any of this, he decided now was a good opportunity to pry and see if she had any idea of what he had been up to.

  “How is the painting going, sell anything lately?” Knox asked, knowing full well he had bought two of her paintings last month under his pseudonym name, Ethan Connelly. Something Knox had been doing since he found out Dani sold her paintings. She was talented, well Knox thought so, as her style and subject were on point with his tastes. At first, he had been surprised to find out this side of her. Not the fact that she could paint but more the likes of what she did paint.

  Sexual, moody, and dark BDSM had not been what he had expected to see on her private website, one he had some difficulty finding at first due to the pseudonym she used. But he was a man who liked to know all there was about the people he worked with and Dani had been no exception. In fact, it had quickly morphed from a professional necessity into the realms of unhealthy obsession.

  Of course, finding out that she lived out her secret submissive fantasies through her artwork, was like waving a red flag in front of a Dom like himself. He’d bought around thirty of her pieces so far and had no plan on ever stopping. In fact, he couldn’t actually say what his favourite piece was, as they were all ones he could see himself re-enacting in person with the artist herself.

  The only sad part was they were all kept in a storage unit in the U.K. along with other sentimental possessions. One of the down sides to having no fixed address and being in his line of work, always moving around to where the jobs took him. Although he wasn’t sure if he had them displayed that he would ever get any work done, not with bound beauties painted in black and white that all looked ripe and ready for the taking.

  “Actually, I will have you know I sold two last month,” she said with sass that sounded a lot hotter coming from Dani than it had from the now knowingly fake ‘Susie’. Knox smiled to himself hearing the confirmation he needed to know that Dani had no clue who kept buying all her paintings.

  “I have regular clients you know… but don’t change the subject Lucas, what financial package did you negotiate? I turned down their first two offers but their last offer wasn’t bad and that’s what I was going to talk to you about.” Dani was clearly back into work mode.

  “Well, I don’t really know,” Knox said then laughed but as Dani said nothing he started to feel a twinge of guilt for teasing her, no matter how much he enjoyed it.

  “Dani… what I mean is I asked for double what their last offer was or I walked. I had no idea, I was just winging it,” Knox said elaborating on what she wanted to know, something he now wanted to know himself.

  “Whoa, let me get this straight…You asked for double… And, and they agreed?" Okay, so Knox was taking this as a good sign for a payday.

  “They did.”

  “That’s fantastic! Wow, you must be good, Lucas,” Dani said in utter shock.

  “If only you knew,” Knox muttered under his breath without thought and referring of course to his sexual obsession.

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that?” Dani asked and Knox cleared his throat.

  “I said, ‘so you see, it’s not all bad’ and of course, it’s all still going to go through you, that was my one other demand. You are my broker and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Knox said easing Dani in for the next bit of news.

  “Well, I should think so too. So, do you want to know what the deal is then if they are giving you double?” Dani’s voice got excited.

  “Yes… but there is more. I took on a second job too. And that’s why I needed this account sorting.” Knox knew this wasn’t going to go down well.

  “Lucas…” She said his name in her usual scolding tone and before he could start to explain she started,

  “Really! A second job? I think I am too scared to ask. The deal you have made works out at £250k a year, so you now have no excuse for not buying me dinner, Lucas. What is this second job and how can you do both, do you have a twin I know nothing about?” Dani added with cheekiness.

  “I have been paid in advance up front, and I need you to clean it. Taking your normal cut of course. I am going to deposit it
in the account you have setup...” Knox sat down at a bench and told Dani all the details, the job with T.I.7 and the offer by Marco Pérez and Malcolm Howard. Of course, he left out the part about ‘Susie’ and the whole bait and grab part, not wanting to give her an idea of how ruthless T.I.7 could be when they wanted something.

  But Knox found himself easily getting lost talking to Dani and his only annoyance was that he wasn’t doing so in person. He enjoyed chatting with Dani more than he wanted to admit to himself but as he offloaded and she listened, he found it harder and harder to get off the phone. After a time, Knox felt a tug of guilt pull on his conscious. He had taken up too much of Dani’s time and in truth, he knew he was heading down a slippery slope and in doing so dragging her down with him.

  So instead of doing what he wanted to, which was continue talking to her, Knox congratulated Dani on the sale of her paintings as well as her windfall in the form of the commission she would be earning.